Business briefs

Quintiles defends clinical trial standards in India
DURHAM – Indian health ministry officials have claimed in court in India that Durham-based Quintiles and another company didn’t follow norms for clinical trials involving 1984 Bhopal gas leak survivors, The Times of India has reported.
Quintiles does not comment on legal proceedings, Phil Bridges, a spokesman for the biopharmaceutical services company, said in an email. However, he did say that it’s “not the case” that “companies conducting clinical research in India do not maintain the standards there as they do in other countries.”
According to The Times of India report, an “application” filed by two non-governmental organizations in a pending petition alleged that gas leak survivors who were being treated at a hospital and research center in Bhopal were being used as “guinea pigs” in clinical trials. Also, the report said that in inspections of two different clinical trials by Quintiles Research Pvt Ltd. in 2010 and in 2011, officials found deficiencies.

UNC Health Care to partner with Rocky Mount system
ROCKY MOUNT — UNC Health Care has a new agreement with Nash Health Care Systems, officials from the Rocky Mount-based system said Monday.
Under the agreement, Chapel Hill-based UNC Health Care will provide management and operational resources.
Although the deal will not involve any sale or exchange of assets, Nash Health Care leaders believe it will lead to cost-savings and increased hospital clinical services. The agreement will go into effect in April.
Tuesday’s announcement follows a request for proposals issued in June by Nash system leaders to five pre-selected hospitals.

N.C. IT job openings down in November
RALEIGH – Information technology job postings fell in November compared with October, and were also down compared with the same month last year.
That’s according to the N.C. Technology Association’s IT Job Trends Report, prepared by SkillPROOF.
There were 3,230 job postings in November. The total was down 9 percent compared with November of last year. The number was down 2.7 percent compared with October, bringing labor demand levels for the sector in the state to similar levels seen at the beginning of this year.
November was the fifth month of consecutive declines seen since May.